Ethiopia is the cradle of mankind and the birth place of coffee along with many cultural, natural and historic blessings which have magnificent touristic values. The export potential of the country has been increasing from time to time. Coffee export is among the sectors that the country is being benefited from in booming its economy.
Recently, another milestone has been achieved in the coffee export. According to Sahlemariam Gebremedhin, Public Relations and Communication Director of the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, the export potential of the coffee sector is increasing. As to him, it was able to export 175,563.66 tons of coffee and earned 626.09 million USD during ten months of the current fiscal year mentioning that the plan was to export 234,875.34 tons of coffee and to earn 883.25 million USD.
In accordance with the destination countries of the exported coffee, it was able to export 38,568.48 tons or 22 percent of the total export to Saudi Arabia and earned 114.86 million USD or 18 percent of the total earning followed by Germany with the export amount of 26,137.88 tons that is 15 percent and earned 81.15 million USD or 13 percent and the rest 14,976.54 tons or 9 percent is exported to USA earning a net worth of 77.15 million USD or 12 percent. Though these are the leading countries ranking 1 up to 3; Belgium, South Korea, Japan, China, Sudan, France and Australia are also among the destinations of Ethiopian export coffee, he noted.
He further stated: “The COVID-19 pandemic has brought an adverse effect on the export potential of the Ethiopian coffee. For instance, in the past years, we used to advertise our coffee at international coffee exhibitions and bazaars abroad. On the contrary, during the outbreak of the pandemic, various international exhibitions and conferences have been canceled, including Coffee Day which is aimed to promote Ethiopian coffee and involve international buyers and companies.”
This adverse impact, as it was expected, has created a gap in terms of promoting coffee and expanding its market destinations. Due to the pandemic, many coffee buyers have purchased a large quantity of coffee from various producing countries, but the Authority has been working hard to offset the cost. For example, out of the 27,200 tons of coffee exported from Ethiopia to the world market in March, it was able to earn more than 107 million USD. Following this through exporting 28.8 thousand tons of coffee during the past April alone, it was able to collect 114 million USD.
This is the highest foreign exchange earnings from the coffee export to the world market in just one month. This revenue will enable the country to significantly support its foreign exchange earnings in the export trade, and it is an indication of how bright the future of the country’s export activities will be through the reforms undertaken in the coffee sector, he asserted. Therefore, this new milestone of the coffee export is vital for booming the national economy. Moreover, different activities have been carried out in order to increase quality of the exporting coffee parallel with improving different strategies that aim for benefiting the coffee growers.
As a part of the reform activities which have been carried out in modernizing the coffee market, the Authority has also launched the first “Micro Lot Coffee Trading Platform” which is paramount importance for the country to supply world class coffee and to enhance foreign currency earnings as well as to benefit the crop growers. According to Adugna Debela (PhD), Authority’s Director-General the main purpose of the platform is to come up with alternative coffee market. To this end, the new platform has mainly focused on products which have over 85 percent laboratory experimentation confirmed performance.
“Another milestone has been achieved in the coffee export. In April 2021, Ethiopia exported 28.8 thousand tons of coffee and earned 114 million USD. The achievement is so remarkable indicating bright future in our coffee export activities. I am very much privileged to thank our CLU staff who shouldered the day-to-day testing and grading activities that the sector demands.
“Without their commitment and endurance, this would not have been possible. Our policy reform is also contributing significantly for this performance,” the Director General avowed on the Authority’s facebook page. Despite Ethiopia is the major coffee producer and a country of origin, it is possible to say that neither the producer nor the nation has benefited from the sector as far as they deserve, he explained.
According to the Director General, the new platform would play a prominent role in promoting coffee quality, increasing competitiveness, ensuring farmers benefit, generating foreign currency, and attracting more coffee buyers. It was learnt that the platform would be applied during the second Coffee Excellence event in the coming few days. In this regard, USAID Feed the Future, Coffee Exporters’ Association, and other stakeholders are going to take part in all processes.
Ethiopian Commodity Exchange CEO, Wondimagegn Negera on his part said that the platform would play an essential role in increasing traceability, providing high standard coffee product, and generating hard currency to the country. According to Wondimagegn, the Micro Lot Trading will help both farmers and buyers to get their payment and receive their products respectively noting that the authority also has an online payment and delivery system connected to commercial banks.
On the other hand, Ethiopian Coffee Growers and Exporters President, Hussein Ambo (PhD) said that it is equally important to ensure the benefit of coffee growers and provide them fair price for their products apart from availing them machinery and other equipment. “It is not possible to talk about coffee and its export if there are no farmers. Therefore, it must be a prior task to increase the benefit of the coffee growers in the field. Even the policy should be amended in order to assure the benefit of the farmers,” he underlined.
As to him, it is significant to shorten the hassle which is being observed on the market chain between the producers and exporters. Or things must also be done in order to make the coffee growers the direct participant of the export market. Meanwhile, the diplomatic community is also working in promoting Ethiopia’s coffee for the international market. Accordingly, Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the People’s Republic of China in collaboration with Beijing Chengjia Culture Communications Co. Ltd. recently has held Ethiopian Coffee Promotion Ceremony at the Ethiopian Embassy in Beijing.
During the ceremony, Deputy Head of Mission (DHM), Ambassador Dawano Kedir noted that Ethiopia and China have a long and multifaceted relationship which resulted in a very strong and successful partnership. He added that over the years, Ethiopian coffee is gaining more market share in the trade exchange between the two countries. Furthermore, the DHM noted many Chinese tea consumers particularly the younger ones are joining the coffee consumers’ community and that they are opting to consume Ethiopian coffee attracted by its unique quality and test. He finally called on all participants to significantly contribute to the promotion of Ethiopian coffee all over China and he reassured them that Ethiopian diplomatic missions in China are always ready to assist.
BY HIZKEL HAILU
The Ethiopian Herald June 10/2021
